virtue ethics overview and re-visit

8/9/2019 Virtue Ethics Overview and Re-Visit

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Why Should I BeMoral?Because of My Character!

Virtue Ethics


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A ims of Todayjs LessonTo deepen our understanding of what MacIntyre calls ka return

to virtuelTo consider how Christianity has adopted Virtue Ethicsthrough its valuing of moral

saints and heroesTo identify some of thestrengths and weaknesses of Virtue Ethics


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Starter Exercise (15Mins)To re-cap and build upon your

learning fro last lesson, you will bewor ing together as a group toco plete the ti e-line of Virtue onthe front desIjll explain the tas by doing anexa ple


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A retology A rete - Excellence, Strength, VirtueA retaic Ethics - Strength-CenteredEthicsE phasises Virtues (Strengths) andVices (Wea nesses) of CharacterNot What Should I Do?l butWhat Kind of Person Should I Be?l

BEINGNESS not DOINGNESS


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A ristotle and the Goal of Human Existence (384-322 BCE)mEudaimonia (p.g. 4)

mFlourishing, Happinessm A Lifelong Pursuit,acco plishedn Rationally, through reason

and conte plationn Functionally, throughpractice


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Two Types of Virtue (p.g. 4-5)Intellectual Virtuesn E.g. Wisdo , Understanding, Prudence

(co on sense)n Inborn but developed through instruction

Moral Virtuesn E.g. Justice, Courage, Te perancen The result of habit

n Not natural or inborn but acquiredthrough practice nhabitkThose strengths of character that enable

us to flourishl


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A ristotle therefore said:"Everybody who understands his

business avoids ali e excess anddeficiency; he see s and chooses themean, not the absolute mean, butthe mean considered relatively to

ourselves."


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Examples of the mean

C ow ard ice C ourage Foo lhard iness

S tinginess G enerosity P rod igality

S ham lessness M odesty B ashfu lness

M aliciousness R igh teousIndignation

Enviousness

V ice of De ficiency Virtue Vice of Excess


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Virtues and Community mA ristotle said that virtues are

defined and lived in co unity

thus a ing friendshipessential (p.g. 8)Sharing a co on identity andstory Modeling the VirtuesnI portance of Moral Exe plars

(Saints and Heroes)


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Moral Heroes and Heroines


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Mother Theresa of Calcutta Not otivated by

pity or obligation .Saw "the face of Jesus" in the poorand dying.Her wor and herdaily religiouspractice wereboth a participation in thestory of Jesus.


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The A retaic Turn in MoralPhilosophy A lasdair MacIntyre (p.g. 11)

Af ter Virtue (1981)

Moder moral philosophy isba rupt; it must recover thetraditio o f virtueImporta ce o f Narrative as a

klived traditio l, telli g thestories o f our sai ts


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Stanley HauerwasResident Aliens (1989)n Christianity has lost its soul.n Christians are not pri arily

citizens o f a liberal, democratic society - Preach as i f you have e emies li e

the fi rst Chr i st i a s d id mProvocat iv e, o ff e s iv e, challe g ing

n kHow Marr i age i s a Sub v ers iv e Act -fid e i ty n kWhy Gays (As a Group) Are Mora y Super i or to Chr i st i a n s (As a Group) n they ha v e co n vi ct i on !

n Commu n i tar i a n Eth i cs


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Example of Virtue Ethicsm Am ishco m munitiesn An

ti-worldly 16th Ce n tury n Pacifistn Fa m ily

n Story


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The Taliban Vice and VirtueDepartmentn Anti-wester n

n Commu n ity focusn Provocativen Challe ngin g: behave

in Islamic waysn Story n what is our

iden tity asfollowers of Islam,what virtues shapethat ide n tity


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Strengths of Virtue Ethics(p.g. 14f)m Importance of the Person, Motive, Heart,

Conscience n perso n al side of ethicsmCon nectio n to Commu n ity mRealizatio n that morality is not defi n ed

by mome n ts or rules but by a lo n g-termprocess

m A llowa n ce for gray areas, varyi n gco n texts, differe n t levels of moralmaturity a n d life co n texts

m A ttai n able because wor s through

examples of virtuous people


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Wea nesses of VirtueEthicsm How do we define virtue ( A nnas)

m Robert Louden n is it practical, how does a perso n n ow what a kgoodperso n l wou l d do whe n faced witha n issue l ike abortio n n virtuesco n f l ict etc

mOver depe

nde

nce o

nstro

ngcommu n ities

mCul ture depe n de n tmSusa n Wo l f - bori ngmCa n be tur n ed i n to a se l f-ce n tred


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Conclusionsm Utilitarianism and Deontology arehelpful

mBut they demand some ind of larger criteria or grounding, somelarger view

mVirtue ethics seems to provide this,and

mSeems to reflect Christian ethicsbest


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TodayjsA

ims Met?To deepen our understanding of what MacIntyre calls ka return

to virtuel

To consider how Christianity has adopted Virtue Ethicsthrough its va l uing of mora l

saints and heroesTo identify some of thestrengths and wea nesses of Virtue Ethics


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A ristotle

(384 n 322 BCE)

Plato

(428 n347 BCE)

Homer

(disagreement n

ust a very longtime a go!)

A mbrose (338 n397 CE)

A ugustine ( 354 n430 CE)

Gregory (540 n604CE)

This thin

er stressed the conceptof Eudaemonia (well being). Thethin

er spo

e in terms of Moral

and Intellectual Virtues and said

that human beings flourished whenthey struc

the mean betweenexcess and deficiency in any of the

virtues.

For this thin

er the ethical lifewas the life of virtue whereby a

person learnt to be good eventhough ithe goodj was not absolute

This thin

er believed in anideal world of

good l andkv

rtue l . Yes a person can

be good, th s th

nker sa

d,

but the r goodness was

rea ll y a poor ref l ect on of

the kperfect good l that l ay

n what was ca ll ed kthewor l d of Forms or

deas l .

Th s th

nker sa

d that th

s

wor l d of dea l good and

perfect v rtue was l

ke l

fe

outs de of a cave. What

we ca ll kgood l

s j ust a pa l e ref l ect

on of that l

fe

We ll

t a ll began w

th th

s

person. Sa

d to be theauthor of two ep

c poemsset aga

nst the backdrop

of Troy, th s apparent l y

bl nd poet speaks of

courage, phys

ca l strength, cunn

ng andfr

endsh

p. Wh

l stbetraya l and dece

t were

seen as the oppos te of

fr endsh

p, fr

endsh

p

dur ng war made l febearab l e and was

therefore pr

zed. Th

spoet pr

zed honour and

v rtue above a ll e l se.

These th nkers trans l ated the

Greek Trad t

on of V

rtue

nto

an approach to eth cs thatChr

st

an

ty cou l d accept.One of them stressed theneed for sexua l v

rtue (onaccount of a l

tt l e prob l em he

had w th h

s l

b

do). For 1400

years these two th nkers set

the stage for Chr

st

an eth

csand made sure that V

rtuel ay at

ts heart


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A quinas

(1225 n 1274 CE)

Sre n Kier

egaard

(1813n 1855 CE)

Sta n ley Hauerwas

(b. 1940 CE)

G. E.Anscombe

Moder n Moral

Ph losophyj

1958

A lasda r

MacIn tyre

A fter V

rtuej

1981

Th s th

n ker wrote a boo k

n

th s year called k A fterV

rtue l . In

t the th

nkerargued for pract

ca l eth

csrooted

n the krea l wor l d l a nd p l eaded for huma n

commu n t

es to be at the

ce n tre of eth

ca l l

fe. Theth

nker c l a

med that stor

es(a nd te ll

ng stor

es) has thepower to create commu n

t

es

of v rtue n where good

s

ce l ebrated a nd bad frow nedn

Th s th

nker s o ne we have

yet to study. Hejs a Chr st

a n

Theol og a n who wrote a book

n th

s year ca ll ed kRes

de n tAl

ens l . Bas

ca ll y, th

seth

c

st be l

eves thatChr

st

a ns shou l d l

ve as

f

they were

n heave n . Thosearou nd them shou l d not

ce

how d

ffere n t they are fromthe rest of the crowd.

Chr

st

a ns, l

v

ng by stro ngv

rtues l

ke fa

thfu ln ess,

shou l d be l ke res

de n t a l

ens

ll

Th

s th

nker was very extreme

n the way that they we n t about th

nk

ng abouteth cs. The perso n spoke of

eth

cs

nvo l v

ng a k l eap of fa

th l at a t

me whe n otherph

l osophers were ta l k

ngabout reaso n a nd rat

ona l

ty.

For th s perso n , the most

eth ca l perso n was A braham n

who l

ste ned to God,

gnoredreaso n , a nd took a l eap of fa

th

n to the dark. Th

s

th nker

s k now n as a n ex ste n t

a l

st.

Th s th

nker was o ne of thef

rst Chr

st

a n Theol og

a ns torea ll y ref l ect o n v

rtue from

a Chr st

a n sta ndpo

n t. Tothe card

na l v rtues of

courage, ust

ce, tempera nce

a nd w sdom, th s th nkeradded three theo l og

ca l v

rtues: Fa

th, Hope

And Char ty

L ke St. Pau l , he stressed that

Love was the greatest v rtue

of a ll

These th

nker wrote a n art

c l e

n th s year that

rea ll y set mora l ph

l osophers th

nk

ng aboutv

rtue o nce more. Theth

nker sa

d that mora l ph

l osophy s

nce theen l

ghte nme n t had throw n

the baby out w th the bath

water a nd had become tooobsessed w

th reaso n . Theth

nker p l eaded for a retur n to A r

stot l e a nd the V

rtue

trad t

on .

virtue ethics overview and re-visit

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